Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman did his best to put Lidstrom on the ice every chance he got Thursday night, and it paid off in more ways than one. Not only did Lidstrom do a phenomenal job in shutting down Carolina's offense, Lidstrom scored a power-play goal to snap a tie with 5:08 left in the third period to give the Red Wings a much-needed sigh of relief.

With the game seemingly headed to overtime, where Carolina has flourished with a 7-1 record these playoffs, Lidstrom scored the first of two Detroit goals in 13 seconds as the Red Wings took a 3-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena to even the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Finals at one game apiece.

"He just seems to have so much endurance the way he plays," Bowman said. "It was a great shot he put in. It was rewarding for the way he played -- killed the penalties, played even-strength and for the most part out against Ron Francis and Jeff O'Neill most of night."

Lidstrom, who entered the game averaging 30 minutes, nine seconds a game, was on the ice for 34:38, more than any other player. He played 25:05 in the first two periods, 3:20 more than fellow defensemen Jiri Fischer, Mathieu Dandenault and Steve Duchesne combined.

"I felt energized late in the third period," Lidstrom said.

If Detroit had fallen down 2-0, it would have been a tedious task for the President's Trophy winner to rally against Carolina's tight-checking, hard-working machine.

Kirk Maltby and Rod Brind'Amour traded first-period short-handed goals, and after a scoreless second, Carolina had to feel comfortable heading into the third. The Hurricanes were 7-0 in the playoffs when tied after two periods.

But after Martin Gelinas' slashing penalty late in the third, the Red Wings worked what had been an ineffective power play (1 for 8) and finally connected when Lidstrom one-timed Sergei Fedorov's pass from the point past a stunned Arturs Irbe. Just 13 seconds later, Lidstrom assisted on Draper's goal to give the Red Wings a 3-1 strangehold.

"They're good at blocking shots," Lidstrom said. "It's tough to get the puck to the front of the net, but they gave me an open lane, and I got the puck through."

Carolina blocked 28 shots to keep itself in the game. Including the blocks, Detroit had 45 shots directed at the net in the first two periods. Carolina had 17. Yet it was 1-1 heading into the third because Irbe wasn't forced to make save after save.

The loss snapped Carolina's six-game winning streak on the road. It was the first time in 10 games that Carolina allowed more than two goals.

Detroit controlled play for much of the game, but like Carolina, it got into penalty trouble. But the Hurricanes' power play wasn't able to get anything done, finishing 0 for 8.

"We'll leave this game here, along with our power play," Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said jokingly. "We tried to decline a few of the power plays in the second, but they wouldn't let us."

The Hurricanes tied the game at 14:47 of the first when Fredrik Olausson coughed up the puck in the neutral zone.

Brind'Amour chased it down, skated in and roofed a shot over a fallen Hasek for his fourth goal. But that would be Detroit's last chance for awhile.

"Even if you win the first game, that second game is not easy to get," Bowman said.